Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 5.djvu/192

 104 STAT. 3514 PUBLIC LAW 101-624—NOV. 28, 1990 "(A) IN GENERAL.—The director of the National Appeals Division shall make all determinations with respect to the appeals submitted to the Division for review. "(B) PROCEDURE. —In submitting an appeal for the determination of the director, the hearing officer shall certify the record and deliver or otherwise provide the certified record to the director. "(C) BASIS OF REVIEW.— The National Appeals Division shall base its review of the hearing on the transcript of the hearing and the evidence presented to the hearing officer, except that the director of the National Appeals Division may order that further proceedings be had in order that the record presented for review by the National Appeals Division may be complete or in order to hear new or additional evidence. "(6) INDEPENDENCE OF DIVISION. — All hearing officers within the National Appeals Division shall report to the principal officers of the division and shall not be under the direction or control of, or receive administrative support (except on a reimbursable basis) from, offices other than the National Appeals Division. "(7) FiNAUTY OF DECISIONS.— Except as provided in subsection (e), determinations of the director of the National Appeals Division shall be final, conclusive, and binding on the Department of Agriculture, including the Commodity Credit Corporation, and any agency thereof. "(d) COURT REVIEW. —Final decisions of the Department of Agriculture under the process provided for in this section shall be reviewable by a United States court of competent jurisdiction. "(e) PARTICIPANT.—For the purposes of this section, a participant means any person whose right to participate in, or receive payments or other benefits in accordance with, any of the programs under this Act or any other Act administered by the ASCS is adversely affected by a determination of any State or county committee established under section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, by employees or agents of such committees, by other personnel of the ASCS, or by agents of the Commodity Credit Corporation under this Act or under any other Act administered by the ASCS. "(f) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY. —Nothing contained in this section shall preclude the Secretary, the Administrator of the ASCS, or the Executive Vice President of the Commodity Credit Corporation from determining at any time any question arising under the programs to which the provisions of this section apply or from reversing or modifying (in writing, with sufficient reason given therefor) any determination made by a county or State committee or the director of the National Appeals Division. "(g) DECISIONS OF STATE AND COUNTY COMMITTEES. —Decisions of the State and County Committees established under section 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, or employees of such committees made in good faith in the absence of misrepresentation, false statement, fraud, or wilful misconduct, unless otherwise appealed under this section, shall be final, unless otherwise modified under subsection (f) within 90 days, and no action shall be taken to recover amounts found to have been disbursed thereon in error unless the producer had reason to believe that the decision was erroneous.

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